I just finished the Underground Lair or whatever, and I'm enjoying it more than I did on the PS2. However, I still stand by my opinion that Persona 3 is better. Maybe not gameplay wise in a sense. I loved the battle system of Persona 3, even though it could be annoying. Persona 4's doesn't have anything new, and even makes it more generic with manual selection of teammate commands.

I also thing Persona 4 has some serious problems with tone. I can't tell what its trying to go for. Is it going for friendship butterfly rainbows? Or is it going for mystery intrigue danger? Persona 3 was able to combine the darkness of the plot, and the characters did their best to make light of it. They still constantly doubted themselves. Persona 4, they doubt their mission for a minute, and then you say, WE CAN DO IT. Then they snap right out of it.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the characters of Persona 4, and that hospital scene near the end. Those hospital scenes are the first time I actually felt any real danger. Persona 4 is a great game, and I'm glad everyone enjoys it. I just don't feel it deserved to overshadow Persona 3. Hell I think the game has overshadowed a lot of SMT besides the other great Persona games.

Persona 4 being my favorite RPG ever, this one is an improvement by far. Just because of the extra content Atlus put into the game was really wonderful. Is it just me or does Atlus know how to write cute, awesome girl characters with each game like Marie? :P

Some non-spoiler thoughts on changed content for previous players now that I've hit November.

- Some of the new scenes are clever (the "reenactment of the birth of Venus"), others are pretty horrible (the entire Junes band section).- I'm pleasantly surprised at how many new scenes or changed scenes there are. Some of the changes are small, but one or two were very important.- Nope, even at Rank 10 Marie still isn't likeable or interesting. This coming from someone who almost always likes Tsundere characters.- Dungeons are easier now, due to having earlier access to Invigorate-type skills (ie, you can get Invigorate 2 below level 20). You can start buying Mage's Marks once you have access to the Sauna. This is compounded by the new Shuffle Time, which lets you upgrade your abilities via picking the Magician Arcana. That Invigorate 2 can turn into Invigorate 3 without much effort, and you can get early access to many spells.- The difficulty balance is still off, unfortunately. The most difficult parts of the game are the first two dungeons and everything is downhill from there. Like the above, this is compounded by new features. Your non-MCs are stronger in Golden and have new abilities, Yukiko gets the Mudoon-series, for example, making battles easier than ever before.- There's a ton more to do than in vanilla. A first-run max S.Link is much pickier than before, especially if you want to do everything.- While not a huge deal, they've rearranged Arcana of certain Personae because they added Jester and Aeon. This threw me off a few times, so just watch out for it.

Some non-spoiler thoughts on changed content for previous players now that I've hit November.

- Some of the new scenes are clever (the "reenactment of the birth of Venus"), others are pretty horrible (the entire Junes band section).- I'm pleasantly surprised at how many new scenes or changed scenes there are. Some of the changes are small, but one or two were very important.- Nope, even at Rank 10 Marie still isn't likeable or interesting. This coming from someone who almost always likes Tsundere characters.- Dungeons are easier now, due to having earlier access to Invigorate-type skills (ie, you can get Invigorate 2 below level 20). You can start buying Mage's Marks once you have access to the Sauna. This is compounded by the new Shuffle Time, which lets you upgrade your abilities via picking the Magician Arcana. That Invigorate 2 can turn into Invigorate 3 without much effort, and you can get early access to many spells.- The difficulty balance is still off, unfortunately. The most difficult parts of the game are the first two dungeons and everything is downhill from there. Like the above, this is compounded by new features. Your non-MCs are stronger in Golden and have new abilities, Yukiko gets the Mudoon-series, for example, making battles easier than ever before.- There's a ton more to do than in vanilla. A first-run max S.Link is much pickier than before, especially if you want to do everything.- While not a huge deal, they've rearranged Arcana of certain Personae because they added Jester and Aeon. This threw me off a few times, so just watch out for it.

- I thought the band section was pretty funny. -I know you're only on November, but Marie's story gets really great later on.-I actually think the Shuffle Time is much better than the original one because it makes customizing your Persona more non-linear than in the original.-It really depends on what difficulty you're playing on. I played on Very Hard mode and it was quite challenging. I think the reason they did this was so that people who have played Persona 4 to death, like me, don't have to go through the excessive grinding in order to get the skills we want on a specific Persona level.

I never played the original P4, and this game has me 100% in its hooks. Playing in very hard to offset what I hear is a reduced level of difficulty due to shuffle time being different (?), and so far I'm finding it just the right level of challenge. Also, the cast is fucking awesome, and there is so much to do.

Rob said on the podcast once that this series is like chocolate and peanut butter. He's right.

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"IT IS SUBTRACTION. I WILL COME TO YOUR SCHOOL AND BEAT YOUR STUDENTS." - John

I like the new Shuffle Time a lot, but it makes the game much easier because it's so easy to abuse. But yes, it's nice because it lets you build up your favorite Personae to be good and long-lasting. I know I'm a fan of some of the weaker Persona and I plan on building them up for end-game use, despite lacking the full, easy invincibility of a Persona like Helel.

I know what happens with Marie, and I doubt it will make me like her any more. She's just too much of, er, a fanfiction character for me to like her. And I mean this literally, as I have seen fanfiction characters identical to her, with almost the exact same thing happening to their character.

And I play on Hard. I think the lack of difficulty is because I've played the original multiple times now compounded by the new additions. It will definitely be noticeable for those who have experience with the game. Given I'm going for the new ending on my first run, I'll try Very Hard on my NG+. Maybe that will satisfy me a bit more.

I watched my best buddy play the first two dungeons, but I never put my hands on it. I've gotten to the second stratum (or whatever they're c alled in P3) about four times in P3. Maybe after I finish P4, I'll go back to P3P!

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"IT IS SUBTRACTION. I WILL COME TO YOUR SCHOOL AND BEAT YOUR STUDENTS." - John